Air-conditioning system



mv M YQMQGGC Cams 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1ER @EY k" W. S. RUGG ET Al.

Filed Jan. 6, 1956 INVEHTORS. Hen/"g fZJ/nes and /I/agr S. Fvg

Omvnm Sept. 13, 1938.

QNEEQ WITNESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w. s. RUGG Er AL AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMFiled Jan. e, 195s lNvENToRs. /@nf .Ja/ne and l/l/a/ f5'. U

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM Walter S. Rugg andHenry D. James, Pittsburgh,

Application January s, 1936, serial No. 57,761

The present invention relates to a building construction embodying meansfor distributing conditioned air therethrough, and, more particularly,to an improved air-conditioning system for an oilice building, hotel,apartment house, or the like.

i Air-conditioning systems for apartments, hotels and the like have thepresent disadvantage of a high iirst cost, they necessitate majoralterations of the building, and they involve the diiiiculty of properlysupplying conditioned air to meet the.

desires and demands of occupants having different ideas as to just whata comfortable air condition should be.

It is an object ofthe invention, therefore, to

i5 provide a system for circulating conditioned air which is of a lowinitial-cost, is iiexible in installation, and which will deliver torooms or areas a desired and adjustable amount of conditioned airessentially without a duct system and according to the individualdesires of the occupants thereof.

By way of example, and not by way of limita'- ytion, the invention hasbeen illustrated as applied to a hotel, or similar structure, andfurther objects thereof will be apparent from the following description.

Referring to the drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view, in section, of afloor of a hotel, apartment, or the like, embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1; l

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line III-IlI of Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a view, on an enlarged scale, partly in section, of a controldevice in accordance with the present invention.

Referring more specically to Fig. 1, one floor of a building to whichthe invention may be applied, comprises an exterior -Wall substantiallyof L-shape having a corridor 2 aording access to a plurality of rooms 4.Certain of said rooms may be intercommunicating, as 5 and 6, with asingle entrance to the corridor 2; it being within the scope of theinvention to condition one or more rooms from a corridor affordingaccess to one of Y them, or from one room communicating with another orother rooms. Also, in the case of a tall building, there is usuallyprovided elevator shafts E and one or more storage closets S.

It iscqntemplated that one room on a oor, preferably one of the smallerrooms 1, shall be equipped with an air-conditioning apparatus comprisinga filter, humidifier, compressor, and other required auxiliaryapparatus, to supply air at a` desiredA temperature and humidity to thecorridor ici. ca -33) 2.I In thecase of buildings already constructed,

such as a hotel, one of the smaller rooms may be employed for thispurpose, o r a closet or other enclosure of suiiicient-size to house theconditioning equipment. In the case ofa building being 5 constructed,any space of suiiicient volume may be reserved for housing theequipment. Although an aspect of the invention resides in providing aconditioning unit for each floor of a building, or for a group of roomsto be supplied 10 therefrom, it is also within the scope thereof toprovide a centrally located unit connected with suitable ducts totheindividual floors or groups of rooms.

By conditioned air is meanty air that has been 16 -heated or cooled,cleaned, treated to obtain a desired degree of humidity, or any otheroperation performed upon it to make it more suitable or hygenic forliving conditions.

For present purposes, such an air-conditioning 20 unit is disposed inthe room 1, shown more clearly in Fig. 3, having an inlet 8 adjacent tothe floor thereof for drawing air from a point adjacent to the iioor ofthe corridor 2, such air being conditioned and forced outat the duct 9adjacent to the 25 ceiling of the corridor. If desired, all of theintake-air to the conditioning apparatus may be withdrawn from thecorridor, or an adjustable amount may be taken from the window I0. I

The particular form of conditioning apparatus 30 in room 'l is not adetail of the present invention.

It may be a cleaning and cooling system for warm weather conditions, orit may be a cleaning and Ventilating system for cooler weather. Ineither event, it will usually include a fan for drawing 35 air from thelower part of the corridor and forcing it through the short duct 9 inboth directions along the ceiling of the corridor.

For relatively long corridors, a horizontally extending partition l2 maybe provided to help to 40 maintain the layer of cold air adjacent to theceiling for a greater distance. Such partition, as shown more clearly inFig. 4, is spaced from the side walls of the corridor and may besuspended from the ceiling by posts or hangers I3.

Referring to Fig. 1, thev partition l2 extends from the delivery end ofduct 9, to the left thereof, to a point short of the end oi the corridor2, and it extends to the right under a set of bailies I1, so shaped thatthe air-stream will turn with the 50 corridor, without substantialdiminution of velocity, to a point short of the end of the corridor.Suitable vanes i8 may be provided to direct some of the air into theshort corridor 3.

In applying the invention to an existing buiid- 55 ing, the falseceiling l2 may be provided with transparent plates I5 removably mountedbelow the existing lighting iixtures I6 (Fig. 4) or such fixtures may bedropped and mounted directly in the false ceiling I 2, as indicated inthe upper part of Fig. 2.

It is an important aspect of the invention that, depending upon thelength of the corridor to be serviced and the number of roomscommunicating therewith, the velocity of the air delivered from the duct9 is just suicient to maintainja stratum of conditioned air adjacent tothe corridor ceiling without substantial pressure; that is, withoutsufiicient pressure to force the air, in any real volume, into the roomscommunicating with the corridor. This depends, of course, on thedimensions of the corridor and the delivery rate of the conditioningunit in room l.

An important feature of the invention is its function in hot weather. Bya proper adjustment of the conditioning apparatus, the cooled andconditioned air isdelivered from the duct 9 at a lower temperature thanwould usually be required for a given area. This insures that the air asdrawn into the rooms will be suiiiciently cool, and has the addedadvantage that as it spills down the sides of the false ceiling I2, itwill chill the corridor walls; vthereby tending to cool the room wallsby conduction, and giving the occupant passing through the corridor asense of coolness whichis a desired psychological effect.

Referring to Fig. 4, over ,the door of each room to be serviced is afan20 disposed approximately at the level between the corridor ceiling andthe partition. I2 for the purpose of drawing vconditioned air into theroom. Each fan is controlled, in speed, by a plural-position switch 2|within the room in any well known manner. By this expedient, the volumeof air drawn into the room may be controlled at will to meet the desiresof the occupant.

A series of louvres 24 are disposed between the fan 20 and the stratumof conditioned air defined by the false ceiling I2. These may beadjusted, by a. lever 25 within the room, to draw the air from a desiredlevel of the stratum. That is, with the louvres pointing upwardly, andwith a cool conditioned stratum, the intake into the room will be at ahigher temperature than if they are directed downwardly.

Similarly, a baille 26 may be provided on the room side of the fan, tobe manually adjusted about its universal joint mounting 26a to vary thedirection of the incoming stream as desired. The conditioned air mayaccordingly be directed across the ceiling of the room or toward aselected area of the room, such as a bed, table, or the like.

As shown the air intake devices f fan and louvres) are disposed abovethe door of the room but obviously they may be at any desired positionadjacent to the ceiling of the room. They may well be placed in thetransom of the door, if one is available, or in the upper part of thedoor panel, or insert into the wall itself. It is to be understood thatthe structure and arrangement of these items as shown are largelydiagrammatic, and merely suggestive of one possible modification. Thecontrol of the louvres 24 and baille 26, and the speed-control of thefan, may be of any desired type, and it is not believed that a moredetailed disclosure thereof is required.

Exhaust ventilators are provided for each room, or group of rooms,comprising a grill 21 (Figs. 2 and 4) at a lower level in the room wallthan the air-intake devices, so that the air from the latter maycirculate through the room and be returned to the corridor and thence tothe intake of the conditioning apparatus in room 1. As in the case ofthe air-intake devices, the grills 21 may be installed at any convenientpoint in the wall of the room to serve the purpose intended.

In accordance with the foregoing description, the conditioning unit inroom I delivers a desired volume of conditioned air adjacent to theceiling of the corridor. The rate of delivery of such air beingsufficient to maintain a stratum adjacent the -ceiling for the length ofthe corridor, except for long corridors where the false ceiling I2 maybe necessary. In either case, such stratum is not at suflicient pressureto force air into the various rooms in an appreciable volume. Theconditioning of each room may therefore be controlled individually asdesired, by means of the fan 20 and the louvres 24 and baiiie 26.

Of course in the case of an individual apartment, as contrasted with acorridor leading to a plurality of rooms or apartments, the conditioningapparatus may be in a closet and fans 20 and/or louvres 24 be suppliedfor the several rooms. Or, as in the arrangement shown in Fig. -1', theroom 5 may be conditioned through the wall of its communicating room 6,as indicated.

It should be apparent that, when a long corridor is involved, the fans20 to the several rooms in themselves tend to maintain the stratum ofconditioned air adjacent to the ceiling of the corridor, when the fans'are in operation. This, plus the initial velocity of the air stream,makes it unnecessary to provide a continuous duct or ducts to theseveral rooms.

In the foregoing description, the conditioned air is distributed alongthe ceiling of the corridor into the rooms and returned along a lowerlevel in the corridor. Under some conditions it may be desirable toreverse this sequence and deliver the conditioned air at a lower levelin the corridor than that at which it is returned to the conditioningunit.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that, in accordance with thepresent invention, we have devised a conditioning system which .isinexpensive as compared to existing systems, and which may readily beadapted, expanded or restricted to take care of buildings of variousshapes and requirements without an excessive initial investment and,what is of real importance, will permit the individual control of aircondition in individual rooms from a central point at the option, andaccording to the desires, of the individual tenants or occupants.

In view of the many possible modifications of the construction shown, nolimitations should be placed upon the invention except as imposed by theprior art and the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

"1. In an air conditioning system for a building including acorridor anda plurality of rooms communicating therewith, a source of conditionedair andv means for blowing it along said corridor adjacent to theceiling thereof, an airintake device for each room disposed to draw saidconditioned air into such room, a vent for each room at a lower levelthan said air-intake device adjustable air-intake devices over the doorof each room and a vent adjacent the bottom of said door, an airconditioning device. communicating with said corridor, means for blowingand directing cool conditioned air from said air conditioning devicealong the ceiling of said corridor at such velocity that a substantialportion of the cool air passes said intake devices whereby it may bedrawn into each of said rooms as desired and

